Tuesday, 4 September 2012

September 4 2012 | AA 12 Steps In Action | Step 9 Amends In Action Alcoholics Anonymous Today's AA daily reflection: "from day one sober, reconstruction and restoration…" Did anyone say sobriety was going to be easy? No they didn't! As the now dead chain-smoking, gin sodden philanderer, M Scott Peck suggested in his book "the road less travelled," "life is difficult and when we accept it we understand that life will continue to be difficult." And of course it may be difficult, at the same time it will be full of every emotional and spiritual experience possible given where we are and what we do day by day…

Video For Today:

Reconstruction And Restoration

I'm so pleased I still read the daily reflections, because it really is a daily reminder about where I have come from and now live. As much as possible I live in the present moment where everything is spiritual and feelings are truly felt as they are and not what I imagine them to be. My feelings restored daily, means depending on what is going on, every feeling works in the moment and I can really experience the good, the bad and the ugly of now. I actually live the good, the bad and the ugly and with the freedom to choose my next actions based on the serenity prayer, the can do and the cannot do of now and learning the wisdom to know the difference means that life is working as best it can and I am working as best I can moment by moment. And HALT applies always, I need remind myself when I am hungry, angry, lonely or tired that a meeting or a phone call and asking for help will illuminate and make clear next steps to serenity one day at a time…

The beauty of fellowship is we are all in the same day, same reality, and yet each experience for each individual will be quite different because of the way we see the world. And we remain individuals and get our freedom to choose what we can and cannot do. Restoration does start on day one, and we start to understand a little bit more every single day we remain sober, as is said, "sometimes quickly, and happily in my case very often slowly," and we start to learn all the steps informally and then formally so we make sense of living just for one day…

We all get asked questions about what is the best way to go through the steps, and there is no best way. Reading the books, if we can read, or asking someone to read the books to us if we cannot read. Listening if we are blind, signing if we are deaf, or simply by being in the company of fellow travellers in fellowship, we are learning through our senses, indeed learning wisdom and common sense one day at a time. Restoration in sobriety is not a race to be the best in recovery, it is to be the best we can be given everything we need deal with day by day. A suggested programme of freedom to be oneself: no rules laws or regulations to impede your progress and no human authority to tell you what to do in our society. Mind you, in our spiritual kindergarten you will find many who do try to tell you what to do, and romance and finance which is the very essence of much that bothers all of us in recovery, becomes the experience of life one day at a time… And beware those who offer conditional friendships, conditional sponsorship under the auspices of unconditional love… It is all part of the growing process and the practice of these principles in all our affairs…

September 2006 ~ 2011

DonInLondon Last night was fantastic, met a friend at a meeting, meeting was deep and poignant. Then a cycle ride to Soho, Piccadilly and Regents St. Amazing sites, people enjoying the buzz and night life. I loving the experience of seeing everything, sober, happy joyous and free…

The amend to self, to love the experience, see real life happening and its okay to be me today…

September 2006 ~ 2010

Recovery life, full of tangles and stumbles

In recovery we go backwards as well as forwards in our feelings and thinking. Our feelings hurt a lot, because we don't medicate or fix them anymore, we live with them. We do learn so slowly what may be good for us, we always want to speed up past the pain and get back to peace, serenity and happiness. After all we are human beings, simply having a human experience. We prefer edited good highlights in our daily life, yet when we watch TV we often feel better for a dose of human misfortune... Then we probably reckon our own lives are not that bad?

Tangled living means we can go on too long expecting things to improve, with people and places, which we are powerless over. When we realise that we are accepting the unacceptable behaviour of others and ourselves as a consequence or living in places bad for us, we can find it hard to let go. Until we see, we are powerless over people and places, and then change is on offer as we choose to behave differently.

Love as we find in recovery does make anything possible, at the same time some things are unlikely to change. When we love ourselves and others, we can stick around in pain too long. As we get stuck, so does all that is around us. And we stumble, blinkered by our own hope that things will change as if by magic. The magic we find in step nine? We can change our outlook, our attitudes and behaviour and make changes. Usually painful as we learn how.

Step nine shows us we don't need to stick around in hopeless situations we made with people, places and holding onto dreams without foundations. We learn to see the unacceptable far sooner, "least harm, soonest mended?" If we choose well and review daily in gratitude for what works, and step 10 inventories, the pain is less prolonged and serenity restored much more often than "back then"

Easy to write, hard to do, until we do it...

September 4 ~ Always the journey, always in our endeavours and choices, work life, take action and gain wisdom. Constant change and growth means we constantly let go old attitudes and behaviour so we make room for new. We hold on to what is good for us, let go what hinders us. Room for growth today?

September 4 ~ Recovery works one day at a time... "under construction daily" if we try re-invent ourselves, most likely we invent nothing more than what we know already. Old habits are hard to shake loose. If we are open to learn from everything and everyone, new outlooks and new choices open up daily. Let go, let good...

-/-

AA Daily Reflections ~ "Reconstruction... Yes, there is a long period of reconstruction ahead...[big book]

The reconstruction of my life is the prime goal in my recovery as I avoid taking that first drink, one day at a time. The task is most successfully accomplished by working the Steps of our Fellowship. The spiritual life is not a theory; it works, but I have to live it. Step Two started me on my journey to develop a spiritual life; Step Nine allows me to move into the final phase of the initial Steps which taught me how to live a spiritual life. Without the guidance and strength of a Higher Power, it would be impossible to proceed through the various stages of reconstruction. I realize that God [or simply, good conscience and wisdom learned] works for me and through me. Proof comes to me when I realize that God [good conscience and wisdom learned from life and other people] did for me what I could not do for myself, by removing that gnawing compulsion to drink. I must continue daily to seek God’s [wisdom of life] guidance. He [providence] grants me a daily reprieve and will provide the power I need for reconstruction."

Step 9 "If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves." Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us…sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them." AA Promises

I do not speak for Alcoholics Anonymous I speak for myself. Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of unique and authentic people who speak for themselves where they will to share experience, strength and hope about recovery on a daily basis. Anonymity affords sanctuary to find how to live sober and be open, honest and willing to learn life day by day. For me "truth," "love" and "wisdom" offer the best spiritual experience by living reality today. Into the fabric of recovery from alcoholism are woven the Twelve Steps and the Traditions: steps to be open, honest and willing to learn, traditions to live unity, service and recovery.